


Working On It

by Jodie



Category: due South
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-14
Updated: 2017-12-14
Packaged: 2019-02-14 12:55:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13008219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jodie/pseuds/Jodie
Summary: Thanks to my beta reader!Mentions of multiple episodes, but it isn't necessary to have seen them all.





	Working On It

Three men, sitting over the remains of a pizza and pitcher of beer at a sports bar in Chicago, pick up the thread of a conversation that had begun before the televised game, and continued in fits and starts at commercial breaks. They are Benton Fraser, RCMP, his unofficial partner, Ray Kowalski of the CPD, and Ray Vecchio, formerly of the CPD, now retired. Ray and Ray squabbling over the rights to their shared name is now in the past, and Benton is enormously grateful for that. The two Rays still take playful pokes at each other, but Benton has grown more comfortable with that.

In their conversation, they have already found out that Benton Fraser has a fantasy of conducting a great orchestra, and Ray Vecchio’s fantasy is to be a champion race car driver. Now it is their companion’s turn.

“OK, so if you could be anyone, living or dead, who would you be?”

Ray Kowalski rolls his eyes at Ray Vecchio. “Pssht! Superman, of course. Superhuman strength! Super speed! X-Ray vision! You could look at a building and see where the perps are instead of having to go room to room and risk walking into an ambush.” He makes finger guns and swings them from side to side, as if covering the area from invisible threats.

Now it is Vecchio’s turn to roll his eyes. “I said living or dead, not real or fictional.”

“Real people don’t have superpowers. What would be the point? You can do music or driving with practice, but doing something that people can’t do would be really cool. Hey, wouldn’t it be great to read minds? You’d know who was guilty and bust ‘em with no muss, no fuss.”

Vecchio shakes his head. “Are we still talking about Superman, because he doesn’t read minds.”

“Nah, superpowers. I’m talking about being the greatest cop of ever with superpowers. I’d know all!” Kowalski puts his shoulders back and raises his chin, and Vecchio would be willing to bet money that he is imagining himself against a backdrop of an American flag rippling in the breeze, with a trumpet fanfare playing. Vecchio smiles at the notion, before replying.

“You’d never even get a case to court. No evidence. You couldn’t prove that what you said was on the perp’s mind was really true, let alone that it wasn’t just fantasy that wasn’t really going to happen. Besides, the defense would accuse you of lying.”

“What about Fraser, then. If he had that power, they’d believe him. He’s a Mountie.”

Fraser raises his eyebrows. “Mounties are as capable of lying as any other human beings, Ray.”

Vecchio chimes in, “But you don’t lie.”

“I don’t lie by choice, not because I can’t, and not because I’m a Mountie. Ray, you met Gerrard, who was a dishonest Mountie. And Ray, you had a mentor who suppressed evidence, and Ray, yours planted evidence. You both know honest men can make dishonest choices, and that dishonest men can be found in any group.”

Vecchio becomes earnest in an instant. “Yeah, I don’t trust anybody much. It’s just nice for us to imagine a group that lives up to your example.” He shakes his head and rubs his hands over his scalp. “I’m sorry Benny. I try not to tease you about being Mr. Perfect anymore. I sometimes run my mouth without thinking.”

“Yes you do,” says Kowalski.

“Ray, really!” replies Fraser, before turning back to his other friend.“You needn’t be sorry, Ray. Since our meeting, I’ve had my troubles within the RCMP, and living in the city has cost me some idealism, but I gained something more.”

“Huh?” “What do you mean?” are spoken simultaneously.

“My father was the kind of Mountie I wanted to be, and thought all officers should be. He followed all the rules, and so did I. Then, just at the moment when Gerrard and his cohorts presented me with an enormous betrayal, I met a Chicago cop who showed me that strict adherence to regulations means less than an honest heart and an open mind. You remember how dismissive I was of you at the beginning.”

“Well, yeah, I was pretty rude to you too. When you told me that the murder case was your father, I wanted to jump into a hole and close it up after me. After that, you became my top priority.”

“You solved the case, you saved my life, and you flew halfway across the continent to be at my side. You showed me real friendship. And when the RCMP sent me back to work in Chicago, you took me up and made me feel like I had a place in this city. Because of you Ray, I met Jack and Louis and Lt. Welsh. And, of course, Ray. My life as it is now would never have come to be.”

Making the sign of the cross at the mention of the murdered Louis, Ray says, “Well, who knows what it would have been instead. You might have had something better.”

Ray Kowalski brightens up. “Hey guys, that would be an awesome superpower! Knowing how different choices would turn out before you choose them. Like, take this job and it will work out great, or take that one and get fired in a week. Or like, I could look at a skateboard and know that if I ride it I’ll break my arm, so I don’t buy it.”

“You have me for that, numbskull. If you look at a skateboard, I’ll tell you that you’ll break your arm, don’t buy it. Just think of me as the voice of reason.”

“Vecchio, if you think you’re the voice of reason, you’re really dealing with fantasy!”

Kowalski flips his (used, sauce stained) napkin at Vecchio, who curses about tomato on his sweater. Fraser’s eyes glint in amusement and affection, but he has learned not to interfere in the Rays' play fights, so he remains silent. They leave a tip on the table, and head for the door. As they pass into the night, just before the door closes behind them, a voice carries back into the room.

“Ooh! Telekewhatsis! When you move things with your mind. That would be so cool!”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to my beta reader!  
> Mentions of multiple episodes, but it isn't necessary to have seen them all.


End file.
